IAAF is a joke. Look at this picture of "16 years old" Ethiopian Girmawit Gebrzihair

why is this lucrative? wrote:

I don't understand how there is enough money in junior athletics for it to be worth faking your age. Like why is winning a U-20 championship a revenue generating accomplishment at all?

They then get meet invites based on the fact that they're "World Junior Champion" or "World Junior Bronze medalist." It's a stepping stone.

Get your eyes checked wrote:

passportverified wrote:

It's not just Ethiopia and not just in the women's events. Does George Managoi really look 18? Looks about 25.

http://www.athleticsweekly.com/event-news/george-manangoi-wins-high-quality-1500m-in-tampere-101223

He looks younger than Jakob.

Really?

PrZ wrote:

celery wrote:

This Ethiopian woman identifies as a 16 year old. She is living her truth, who are we to judge? My professor of gender-geriatric-skin-pigment-indigenous-people studies taught us that age is just a construct of the white patriarchy. I say let her compete with whoever she wants to.

Ethiopia was the only African country that was NOT colonised, so why mention white patriarchy? She looks like she could have a 16 year old daughter. She’s probably close to twice that age.

+1

El Keniano wrote:

I thought the crazies were confined to the Cheruiyot runs 3:29 thread? This place is more toxic than Fukushima.

Is that so, we'll you've come to the right place.

I certainly hope so wrote:

Get your eyes checked wrote:

He looks younger than Jakob.

Really?

Really.

El Keniano wrote:

I certainly hope so wrote:

Really?

Really.

Dude needs a beauty regime to mask the effects of all the testosterone drugs.

L'Oreal, Garnier, Nivea wrote:

El Keniano wrote:

Really.

Dude needs a beauty regime to mask the effects of all the testosterone drugs.

I'm not even joking when I say Jakob is the one that looks mid-twenties out of the three in that picture. My niece says he looks "old". George and Soget look like your typical Kenyan high schoolers.

jeff tallon wrote:

she looks like a 30 year old on meth.

You beat me to it, I was going to say a 40 year old hitting the pipe, but whatever she clearly isn't sweet 16......

El Keniano wrote:

L'Oreal, Garnier, Nivea wrote:

Dude needs a beauty regime to mask the effects of all the testosterone drugs.

I'm not even joking when I say Jakob is the one that looks mid-twenties out of the three in that picture. My niece says he looks "old". George and Soget look like your typical Kenyan high schoolers.

The rest of the world always jokes about how Hollywood has 27 year olds playing high school kids (or thirty in the case of Olivia Newton John) but in East Africa it might be a reality. BTW how old does Kejelcha look to you?

I know there's a spectrum between "complete freedom of speech even including obvious spam" and "policing the forums so you can only post if you don't offend anyone or post a boring thread," but right now the mods are getting much closer to the over-policing. I think we can all agree that this website is best even when having to personally look through some spammy threads, as being opposed to being worried about every last word you write pissing off some mod. If I wanted to be at a website where I'd never be shocked or offended, there's about every other website in existence for that. I like this site precisely because it's been one of the few places I can post whatever I want without worried about being censored, and I also happen to like running.

The saddest part about this IAAF scandal is how much this organization seems to understand and seperate ages on every level. I was at a local IAAF meet recently and was really excited to etch out a win in the 3000 meter vs. about 10 others, but when I looked at the results online I saw I was merely listed as place finisher 1 of 1 in the "20-24" age category, with all 10 opponents being shuffled into a very specific age group, usually by themself. IAAF clearly understands the difference between ages, so why aren't they strict on age cheats?

TrackCoach wrote:

Gullible Mzungo wrote:

I have always gathered that many of the East Africans don’t have birth certificates so the coaches decide on what age to race them under based on how they perform.

If they run like one of the 16 year olds, then they train and compete with that group.

This may just be a rumour, but it explains some discrepancies.

Most Kenyans under age 20 have a birth certificate and the ones who don't, their age came be approximated in a number of ways. The possibility of economic rewards far outweight ethics. Its not just athletes who are months or a year beyond the appropriate age, they will race an athlete of any age in junior competition if they know the correct age can't be proved.

You lying sacks have been telling us the exact same b.s. for 30 years. The E. Africans cheat. Every chance they get. Period. They cheat in the jr. ranks to load up on medals and as an attempt to intimidate future competition. They enjoy rampant drug use via no out of season testing and the collusion of officials in season who have been paid off by those with a political agenda.

Hydlide wrote:

Ben L Wrong wrote:

The 1500m kenyan athletes, specially Manangoi, are probably legit in terms of age.

Adorable.

What brand of soymilk do you like best?

There really are a lot of soyboys here. Anyone who believes African age claims or thinks less then 85% of them cheats is a soy boy for sure.

I certainly hope so wrote:

Get your eyes checked wrote:

He looks younger than Jakob.

Really?

The trolling is quite funny, but kidding aside Manangoi looks about 23 - 24. And that's what he likely is. Besides being doped. He doesn't get tested out of competition. Must be nice.

Not only in America wrote:

El Keniano wrote:

I'm not even joking when I say Jakob is the one that looks mid-twenties out of the three in that picture. My niece says he looks "old". George and Soget look like your typical Kenyan high schoolers.

The rest of the world always jokes about how Hollywood has 27 year olds playing high school kids (or thirty in the case of Olivia Newton John) but in East Africa it might be a reality. BTW how old does Kejelcha look to you?

Typical Kenyan high schoolers are in their 20s. Ask Brother C. Kajelcha is closing in on 30. The Ethiopians and Kenyans are garbage for their unparalleled levels of cheating.

I used to work at mcdonalds in high school and I would've rung her up for a senior discount on her coffee

Modern tech will save the problem, but not the way most people think (i.e more and more testing).

They've had smart phones in most African villages for ten years now, and it's about doubleing every eightteen months, just like everywhere else in the world. Hence in most cases it should be easy enough to create a timeline based on social media webpages and/or school photos etc.

And though that solution still has some cracks now - it won't in the future. Forget about state sanctioned birth certificates - what counts will be all those family photos from right after your birth, through your pre-school days, your school days, your social media accounts, etc, etc, etc.

Senior citizen wrote:

I used to work at mcdonalds in high school and I would've rung her up for a senior discount on her coffee

Classic, just showed my house cleaner (a relative who was unemployed and needed work) this "16 year old" and asked her "How old do you think this Ethiopian runner is? "45, 50 perhaps." "Nope, 16", "16, no way."

Hey, it's all they got....Kenya and Epoothia are horrible at every other sport.

Back in the day Africans were less likely to age cheat. Who can forget this poor girl in Athens '97?

http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/therockstation99x.com/files/2012/08/Olympic-WM-5.jpg